Page 50 of Wicked Lord

SKATING ON THIN ICE

Axel

I yanked open the door to Vaughn’s office and stormed inside the dim room with the stolen laptop under my arm. I wasn’t surprised to find a girl kneeling between his legs at his desk, sucking his dick.

“What the fuck, Vanderhart!” Vaughn tightened his grip on the girl’s hair so she couldn’t move away. “You can’t just barge in here.”

“Obviously, I can.” I dropped the computer I nearly got caught stealing last night on his desk, the open bottle of vodka wobbling dangerously close to the edge. “We need to talk.”

He flicked his hand to the girl still slobbering all over his cock. “I’m a little busy. Come back later.”

My fingers curled into tight fists, wanting nothing more than to crack my knuckles against his arrogant face. He’d known exactly whose house he sent me to, and if I’d been caught, I could have ended up in a jail cell. Lorelei could have gotten in serioustrouble, too. Of course, it was my stupid fault for allowing her to follow me.

Knots fisted in my gut at how she’d tried to help me last night. She’d had no idea why I—the charming, happy-go-lucky football god—had come close to a mental breakdown, but she didn’t leave my side or run away like I’d expected.

Would Cordi have stayed like Lorelei? She usually avoided overly emotional situations, afraid it would penetrate her tough walls or something.

Vaughn’s throaty moan jerked me back to the present as the girl continued to pleasure him. My mouth curved in disgust, and without thinking, I grabbed the bottle of vodka and chucked it against the charcoal wall.

As glass shattered, Vaughn released her platinum hair, and she scrambled back on her hands and knees.

“You need to leave, sweetheart.” I pointed to her black dress on the dark hardwoods a few feet away. “Things might get ugly.”

Her hazy blue eyes widened as she looked toward Vaughn, but he just sighed and zipped up his jeans.

“I’ll see you later, Cathrine.”

Her lips thinned, red lipstick smeared all around them. “It’s Cortney.”

She yanked her dress on, snatched her sparkly purse off the desk, and hurried past me, muttering a few choice names for Vaughn before slamming the onyx door shut.

The Domnus swiveled his plush black leather chair forward and crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s the problem, Vanderhart?”

I pressed my palms into the cool mahogany of his desk and leaned forward. “What the fuck are you doing?”

He cocked one of his dark eyebrows, seemingly unbothered as he grabbed a cigar from the gilded box on the corner of the desk. “Care to elaborate?”

“Did you send me to the Dupont house last night just to fuck with me?” I rapped my knuckles on the computer as blood pounded in my ears. It took so much control not to punch that smirk off his face. “Did you have me steal this for nothing?”

Vaughn raked his hand through his tousled hair while he rolled the cigar between his fingers, humor glinting in his dark eyes. “I didn’t think it would be a problem, Axel. And you completed the job, right?”

Gasoline rushed through my veins, and his grin struck the match. I stormed to his side of the desk, gripped the arms of his chair, and leaned so close I could smell the vodka on his breath.

“Do you think this is a game, Radcliffe?”

He knew going into that house, facing what I did, would send me into a tailspin. But did he realize how unhinged it would make me?

“I think you’d better back the fuck off, Vanderhart.” He pressed his hand to my chest, but I was a beast compared to his scrawny ass. “I’m your Domnus. Show me the respect I deserve.”

A wild laugh burst out. “You don’t deserve shit except a beatdown.”

His expression hardened, and he put more force into shoving me away, so I stepped back before he broke his little wrist.

“Don’t forget I know all your secrets, Axel. Just a few phone calls, a few slips of the tongue, and you could find yourself in prison.” Vaughn stood, staring me down as if he could physically hurt me. “I own your ass for the next year, but I can make the rest of your life hell if I want to.”

“You don’t have the balls. Bass might have been a threat, but you aren’t him, no matter how much you pretend, and you certainly aren’t a Davenport. His last name carries a hell of a lot more weight in this brotherhood than yours.” I jerked my chin toward the computer. “I did your job. We’re even.”

“Not quite.” His teeth flashed as he gave a malicious smile. “You’re skating on thin ice, and it’s melting a little more with every inch of disobedience you display.”